Who Said Cruising Was a Good Thing?
by Danny vs A Month
Summary: Naruto, zombies, stranded cruise ship...what could go wrong? AU: Naruto's the strong silent type after learning to hide his emotions to keep from being made fun of and he and Hinata are like siblings. Naruto's strong silent type is less moody and more cold calculating.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters. AU in which Naruto and Hinata are as close as siblings(not Hinata's family) and Naruto has been the strong silent type his whole life except for around his closest friends. Any and all other changes will be revealed throughout the story. Sorry for all the changes but I've wanted to do this story for a very long time.

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What Happened Last Night

Tenten groaned and opened her eyes looking around. She couldn't see more than five feet but what she could see looked like a bomb had gone off, which might actually be true. She could remember that she and a handful of the others had been ordered into a vacation. Of course, normally it wouldn't be a problem. The problem came from the fact that the cruise ship they were to vacation on had one of Orochimaru's top agents on board. The agent was known simply by "The Worm" and apparently was a complete unknown that even the Akatsuki feared. However, after boarding the ship, Ino had no memory of what transpired.

She looked around the room she was in, standing. She could remember that the ship had once been beautiful with the ceilings decorated with carvings of warriors and ninja alike fighting massive and disturbing creatures, the walls decorated with the most beautiful wallpaper Tenten had ever seen with sculptures every so often in set spots where the wall curved inward. The floor had been pure marble with no obvious sign of being anything other than one piece of stone and even Neji hadn't been able to see a break. Now, the ceiling was completely destroyed with cracks running through it, decapitating and mangling people right and left but always leaving the creatures alone. The carvings that had once been beautiful, if questionable for decor, were now ominous and foreboding. The walls were largely intact except for holes in some places where a sculpture had fallen. The sculptures were all destroyed and the floor was now cracked almost as bad as the ceiling. The ceiling wasn't still together either, however, as where there were no cracks, there was no ceiling, the air ducts and some power lines having fallen through. Thankfully, the power seemed to have gone out for the most part because none of the downed wires were sparking.

Tenten sat on top of an air duct and tried to remember what had happened. She, Neji, Hinata, Ino, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sai were all on the cruise ship for a little over a month struggling to find out who The Worm was so they could arrest him. Sasuke and Naruto had gotten into a fight, soon stopping when Neji incapacitated them both with Gentle Fist. Tenten couldn't remember the last time she had seen Naruto fight. He was usually quiet and was alone most of the time. Even his team, of which Sasuke was a member, told them that they barely knew anything about him. Sasuke seemed to have just struck the wrong nerve. The cruise wasn't scheduled to be back to port for another week when the problem arose.

The problem was an axe-wielding passenger on the ship going nuts and beginning a ship-wide massacre. He had easily bisected a dozen passengers in one swing each before anyone even realized something was happening. Soon it seemed like the man was on every floor. Sasuke, who had attacked the man, had removed an arm with his sword before the man had kicked him through a steel door like it was nothing. Then he had turned on Tenten. Neji had shouted for her to run and she had.

Suddenly Tenten's mind went blank. She couldn't remember what happened to Neji and Sasuke or how she got wherever the heck she was. Before she could try to remember anything else something smashed against the wall loud enough to make her ears hurt. The man with the axe flashed through her mind and she screamed as the noise sounded again. After a momentary pause, the sound began again, twice as fast. The man was hitting the wall in a frenzy, trying desperately to get to his next victim, no doubt.

Finally the head of an axe exploded out of the wall and a moment later it was smashed a gaping hole in the wall. Light poured through and Tenten had to shield her eyes as the man stepped through the hole and began walking toward her. She screamed again and backed up as far as she could hitting the wall and cutting her arm on a jagged piece of air duct.

"It's alright Tenten," a calm and slightly familiar voice said as the person held the head of the axe in front of the light so that she could see.

Naruto. Instantly her head flooded with images. Her running down a hall. Naruto shoving her through a doorway and locking it behind her. The entire ship shaking so violently that the ceiling came crashing down around her. Then memories of what she knew about Naruto. He was a very powerful ninja from what she understood. He was an orphan and had no friends that she knew of. He also recently returned from a two year absence from the village to train with one of the three Legendary Sannin of the Hidden Leaf, Jiraiya.

"N...Naruto?" Tenten questioned sighing in relief. "Why the Hell did you lock me in here?"

"Because you were slowing me down," Naruto stated lowing his axe. "You would have gotten us both killed trying to get back to Neji."

"Is...is he-"

"I don't know," Naruto interrupted. "After the explosion, I got knocked out by an air duct."

"Explosion?" Tenten questioned.

"What else could the shaking have been?" Naruto questioned. "Either way, I'm getting out of her before the ship sinks. If you're coming with me, then let's go."

And with that, he had slipped back through the hole in the wall.

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	2. Chapter 2

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters. Chainsaws exist in this story.

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New Plan

Naruto waited for a few seconds once through the hole until Tenten stepped out beside him and he handed her the lantern he was holding. She took his and they began to walk down the hall. It was in slightly better condition than the room Tenten had just left with most of the larger debris against the walls but it was still destroyed.

"What happened to the guy with the axe? And Sasuke? And Neji!?" Tenten questioned.

"Tenten," Naruto growled, voice hushed. "The guy with the axe is still alive. If you don't keep your voice down, I'm going to leave you here. Understand? I don't need you or anyone else slowing me down."

"Okay," Tenten nodded, voice weak and apologetic.

"As for Neji and Sasuke," Naruto continued turning and beginning to walk away. "I don't know. When I found you the guy with the axe was already after you and I didn't make it back to the others before the ship shook and I was knocked out. I'm sorry."

Tenten fell silent as they continued through the ship, carefully looking around ever corner for any sign of the man with the axe. Finally they reached a branch hallway that had collapsed and the hallway they were already in was impassible from a massive wall of debris. Naruto walked through a door to his right and Tenten followed seeing that there were at least a dozen corpses in the room, including Ino, who Sai was trying to lift an air duct off of. Naruto helped without even being asked and once it was up, Tenten realized that Ino was alive because she crawled out from under the air duct allowing Sai and Naruto to drop it. Naruto sat down on it and sighed. Sai sat beside him, both silent and staring into space seeing something equally unpleasant in their minds. Finally Naruto stood and looked at the others.

"We need to get off the ship," Naruto informed them. "Whatever the explosion was the ship is sinking."

"I agree," Sai sighed. "Be we should collect the others. Where did the captain inform us all to meet in case of emergency?"

"The Cafeteria," Ino stated. "We could get a bunch of people to go with us if we-"

"No," Naruto said flatly. "Four is better than two but if we have a bug group they'll just put us all in danger. In a cramped hallway if that guy found us he could kill several people in one swing."

"And the bodies would prevent the others from putting up any real defense," Sai sighed. "He's right."

"We should vote," Tenten stated. "Those in favor of heading to the cafeteria?"

All three raised their hands and Naruto sighed.

"Alright," Naruto said standing. "But when people start dying, you're all on your own."

They walked out into the hallway and began heading the way Naruto and Tenten had come. Soon they took a branch hallway and saw a sign leaning against the wall that read "Cafeteria". They followed the hallway for several yards until they reached the doors and Naruto and Sai instantly pulled Tenten and Ino out from in front of them, clamping a hand over their mouths.

"Infection?" Sai mouthed to Naruto nodding toward the two people standing inside, one with an axe and one with a chainsaw, of all things.

Naruto shook his head and mouthed, "Parasite. Infection faster."

Sai nodded and let go of Ino holding one hand up to show her to stay there. Naruto, on the other hand, stepped around the corner and into the cafeteria with his axe and the guy with the chainsaw sprinted forward. Naruto ducked under the chainsaw the first swing and buried his axe in the man's chest then ripped it out and jumped back out of the way of the saw again.

"Not an infection," Naruto stated more to himself. "Please not tiny parasites."

He stepped forward and swung his axe removing the man's head and the body collapsed. The other man turned and fled through a door while Naruto drew a kunai and used it to cut the back of the severed head open. Attached to the cerebellum and brain stem was some form of parasite that looked akin to a millipede. It was about a foot long, including the half still in the man's body, with countless legs attached to the brain stem and its entire head shoved into the man's cerebellum. Naruto restrained a gag while both women vomited upon seeing the inside of a man's skull filled with an over sized bug. Naruto stood and looked to Sai who looked completely unfazed by the sight.

"Aim for the neck,' Naruto grinned. "Could be worse. If the parasites were tiny we'd have to burn them to kill them."

"How the Hell do you know?" Tenten questioned.

"I'm smart," Naruto grinned. "Come on. I have a few things in my room that might help."

He led them out of the cafeteria, the only people inside being corpses piled in the corners, and down a few hallways to his room. He had never been so grateful to be near his own room. Once inside, he crouched and dragged a cast iron suitcase out from under the bed and opened it. Inside was an even grater assortment of weaponry than Tenten had in her scrolls. He had several swords, a collapsible Bo Staff, a pair of trench knives that looked exactly like Asuma's, and several scrolls filled with God knows what."

He tossed two scrolls to Tenten then warned her that they couldn't be refilled so she shouldn't use them unless she had to. He ten handed Sai a katana, Ino the Bo Staff, and drew a chokuto for himself as well as the trench knives. Then, he closed the suitcase and slung the chokuto diagonally across his back. He picked up the suitcase, resting it on his left shoulder as if it were nearly weightless and they left the room.

"So, what exactly do we plan on doing?" Sai questioned.

"Well, I'm going-" Naruto stopped dead in his tracks listening intently and the others all fell silent as well.

Suddenly they began to hear a rumble that quickly grew into a deafening roar as the entire ship began to shake. they were all instantly knocked from their feet and thrown to the ground and found themselves unable to move. Finally the shaking subsided and Naruto stood, helping the other up as well before retrieving his suitcase.

"I'm leaving the ship before we sink," Naruto stated.

"What was that?" Tenten questioned.

"That would be the suspension that keeps the ship from swaying very much while at sea breaking," Naruto stated. "Coincidentally, it's also the only thing keeping us upright and above the water."

"And what happens when it finishes breaking?" Tenten questioned.

"The ship will roll over and sink that much faster," Sai stated.

"Then we need to move," Ino stated.

They all continued moving, soon reaching a wall of debris that stretched from the floor past the destroyed ceiling.

"Great," Naruto groaned. "I can't use my Rasengan without destroying the ship so now I'll have to clear it by hand."

"We need to rest anyway," Ino sighed. "We still haven't recovered from being knocked out."

Naruto ignored her and created a shadow clone to help him begin to clear the rubble. Massive chunk of marble after massive chunk of marble fell first but just as they reached air ducts, they all heard a rumble.

"It's going to shake again!" Sai shouted.

"I know that!" Naruto shouted jumping from the wall while releasing his clone.

No sooner did he hit the ground did the ship begin to shake so violently that they found themselves in the air more often than on the ground. As a result, when the wall of rubble began to sway dangerously toward Naruto, he was unable to do anything to get out of the way. He tried desperately to throw himself away but failed miserably. Finally, a blast of chakra laced wind hit him, throwing him away from the wall just as it fell, crashing down and through the floor where they had been. Metal rods from the wall began sticking into the ground in a trail after Naruto, who was still sliding, the ship's shaking having subsided a bit. Finally, Naruto stopped and the last rod impaled itself in the ground so close to him between his legs that it split the seam of his pants. Naruto instantly sieved up and couldn't force himself to move. Eventually he slid back and glanced down, relieved to not see blood. He looked up and saw Neji standing from a doorway beside where the wall had been. It had been him that saved Naruto's life.

"Thank you Neji," Naruto said voice pinched from his near mishap.

"You okay?" Neji questioned. "That was a pretty close call."

"I'll be fine," Naruto stated standing as the others did the same, Naruto's shoulders still locked in place.

"Hey Naruto," Sai called out. "Where did you learn to fight?"

"Jiraiya taught me on our trip," Naruto stated finally beginning to relax. "Come on. We need to get to-"

He was interrupted by the ship shaking violently again and without warning. This time, however, the ship rolled. They all soon found themselves laying on what was left of the ceiling as the ship stopped shaking and Naruto groaned having hit his head repeatedly throughout the trip around the hall.

"Fuck," Naruto groaned pushing himself up and rubbing his head. "Everyone okay?"

"No," Neji replied, voice even more pinched and pained than Naruto's.

Everyone looked over and saw him crushed under a massive piece of marble. Both his legs were broken, no question about that. Naruto created thirty clones and they were only just barely able to lift the chunk of stone while the real Naruto pulled him out from under it. Then he lay him down and looked around. While he was looking, Ino managed to heal his legs as much as she could but if he put any weight on them, they would break again. Naruto returned soon with a usable wheelchair. Neji tested the breaks, seeing that they worked and they continued, Naruto pushing Neji and the others following.

"So, how are we getting out if the top of the ship is underwater?" Ino questioned.

"We're not leaving through the top of the ship, obviously," Naruto stated. "There should be a turbine on the front to the ship that helps steer and stop the ship if needed. That will be our exit."

"Why that?" Ino questioned.

"Because the main turbines are still working," Naruto stated. "Now, we need to move. The stairwell shouldn't be far."

They walked through the ship in silence until they reached a section that was collapsed. A girl was half crushed underneath it with only her upper body free and blood pouring out of her mouth. Her white-blonde hair was matted with blood and her eyes were bloodshot. But she was moving.

Ino rushed forward to try to help but the moment she arrived, the girl grabbed her arm and bit down. Hard. She tore a chunk of skin out of Ino's arm, including a piece of bone. Ino screamed in pain and Naruto rushed forward beheading the girl while Tenten and Sai pulled Ino away. Neji readied his own sword but Naruto stopped him.

"Look," Naruto said pointing back at the body.

It was still moving, reaching helplessly for its head which was glaring at Naruto.

"It's still alive?" Neji gasped. "But, the parasite!"

"This one doesn't have the bog one," Naruto stated. "There has to be a system."

As he spoke, a fireball shot out of a door behind them and engulfed the girl, burning her to a crisp as Sasuke stepped out of the door, left arm in a sling.

"The big parasites infect with mini parasites," Sasuke stated. "Which then give an infection version. Those with the infection grow a full size one in their stomachs then give that to whoever they bite. There's no way of knowing how to kill any specific one without burning them. Come on, the stairwell's this way."

They all followed him, going over the information he had just given them. Naruto was less than trusting of Sasuke's information because it was too detailed to just be from observations. However, he put those thoughts aside as they reached the stairwell and saw that they were at the top floor allowing them a ground aside from the stairs. They all climbed onto the underside of the stairs and Naruto had a pair of clones pass Neji and his wheelchair up after them. Once they were on the stairs, Naruto's clones picked up Neji in a piggy back and his wheelchair, as neither could reasonably climb the stairs. The stairwell itself was in fairly good condition except for the stairs. Their wall mounts were all either breaking or broken. they looked as if they could collapse at any moment. And of course, the moment Naruto noticed this, the ship began to rumble again.

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	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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Downsizing

"Run!" Naruto ordered and they all sped up.

Just as they reached halfway to the next door, a chunk of the floor fell past and exploded against the ceiling, destroying it and revealing the water below. Then, the ship began to shake far to hard for anyone to stand. Neji's wheelchair fell back down the stairs, stopping in the corner of the room just as there was a metallic screech above them.

"Jump!" Tenten screamed.

They all hurled themselves off the stairs and into the water, Naruto's last clone bringing Neji whit him. Just as they cleared the stairs, they fell. They all splashed down into the water, concrete, marble, and metal raining down around them. Tenten was caught under a massive piece of stairs and Naruto instantly pulled a broadsword out of his suitcase before closing it again and throwing it to the clone. Sai tossed him is katana and Naruto swam down into the water with the two swords, pushing off of sinking pieces of stone and metal to reach the bottom faster. When he arrived, he slid the blades from the two swords under the piece of metal on either side of Tenten, praying the katana would hold. Just as he began to push up on the two swords, Sasuke arrived and began to pus up on the katana while Naruto did the same with the broadsword using his back. Finally, Naruto managed to pull Tenten free and gave her to Sasuke who swam upward. The piece of metal sank again, snapping both blades and the sudden movement forced Naruto to gasp, something he instantly regretted. He began to swim upward, soon meeting Sai who grabbed him by the arm and swam upward with him. When they broke the surface, Sasuke pulled Naruto through the doorway they happened to be at level with and punched him in the stomach.

Naruto instantly sat up coughing water up and gasping for breath.

"Never do that again," Naruto sighed as Sai joined them and helped Naruto up.

"Now what?" Sasuke questioned. "We're right back where we started and none of us has the strength to walk up a wall."

"Now we do something really stupid," Naruto sighed. "Now, we take the elevator."

"It won't work," Sai stated.

"We'll have to climb up the elevator junction," Naruto stated.

"The what?" Ino questioned.

"The massive elevator shaft that all four elevators were in on this ship," Sasuke stated. "You'll see."

They all walked along, following Naruto and Sasuke who quietly discussed what to do about Ino. Sasuke favored burning her while Naruto was slightly less sure about it. Ino began to fall further and further back, no one noticing until she was finally gone.

"Alright," Naruto finally said. "Ino we have to...where's Ino?"

Everyone looked around but she was gone. They all sighed and continued, reaching a fork in the path and stopping short. Hinata was laying in the path dead center of the fork in a pool of blood with three corpses standing around her, one with a cutlass, one with an axe and a severed left arm, and once with a pair of short metal rods the size of a tanto. Naruto drew his trench knives and sprinted forward before anyone could grab him to stop him. Every part of Naruto's common sense was shouting that Hinata was either dead or infected. But he had absolutely no control over his body at this point. The guy with the axe swung first, missing Naruto by a millimeter and Naruto simply drove one trench knife into the back of his head then shoved him onto the cutlass before turning toward the third zombie. it swung at his face but his ducked under it and began spinning and slashing everything he could reach on the zombie which eventually fell backward dead. Naruto turned to the one with the sword and blocked a slash. The zombie instantly spun slashing at Naruto's arm and he barely managed to block it.

_So fast!_ Naruto thought as he jumped over another slash allowing Sasuke to hit the zombie with a fireball.

The zombie stumbled away screaming in agony before falling and impaling itself through the head on a metal pipe. Naruto dropped both of his blades and fell to his knees beside Hinata checking for a pulse. He felt one but only barely. Just then, Ino stepped out of a doorway and he sighed in relief.

"Ino, thank God," Naruto smiled. "You need to heal Hinata!"

"Was that an order?" Ino questioned smiling but eyes showing only malice and blood lust. "I don't think so."

"Ino please!" Naruto begged.

"No," Ino growled. "But you know what I will do? I'm going to infect that bitch. And then I'm going to tear your head off after she infects you, so that you can watch as I kill all of them."

"No," Naruto growled. "You're not."

Ino began to laugh but it was cut short by Sasuke driving his chokuto through her heart. Naruto looked down at Hinata and felt for a pulse again. This time, he felt nothing.

"No," Naruto breathed struggling to keep control of the emotions he had bottled up his entire life. "Please, not you too. I can't. I can't lose you too. Please. Wake up."

Suddenly, Hinata's eyes fluttered open and she looked around.

"N...Naruto?" Hinata questioned blinking and looking past him at the destroyed hallway. "What...what happened?"

Naruto wrapped his arms around her, barely keeping from sobbing out of joy and after a moment Hinata hugged him back gathering that she had nearly died.

"Are they..." Tenten began but the others all shrugged and shook their heads.

"Come on," Naruto finally said standing and pulling Hinata up. "We need to leave this ship before we all turn into zombies too."

"Naruto," Sasuke called, kneeling beside Ino's body. "Her arm is healed. It's one way to make sure we're not infected."

"Not for me," Naruto grinned. "I already heal too fast for that to work. It would work for the rest of you though."

"Well that's a convenient excuse," Sai scoffed. "You can't check me because I already heal really fast. What a load of shit!"

"He's right," Sasuke stated. "As for the rest of us, everyone place a small cut on their left forearm."

Everyone complied except Sai.

"Why should I?" Sai questioned. "I've been with you guys this entire time!"

"If you don't, I'm going to kill you," Naruto stated.

Sai glared at him but finally made a shallow cut on his forearm. Naruto glared at him for a moment then turned and they all looked down the two hallways.

"Which way is it?" Sasuke questioned.

"It should be-"

"UZUMAKI! ! !" a very scratchy voice shouted from behind them.

They all looked and saw a massive swarm of infected running after them.

"RUN!" Naruto shouted and they all took off at a full sprint. Naruto and Hinata took one hallway and the others took the other. Naruto growled in frustration having just remembered his trench blades were back where he had dropped them. The zombies had split into two groups and pursued both sets of ninja. Naruto and Hinata, however, had the bigger of the two groups. Soon, the pair burst through a pair of double doors and shut it, barring it with rubble, thanks to Naruto's clones, before the zombies could reach it. On the opposite side of the room, the others burst through the door, Tenten carrying Neji. Sasuke turned and sent several massive fire balls through the door before he, Sai, Tenten, and three Naruto clones blocked the door. Sasuke turned and looked at the others and Naruto sighed wiping sweat from his brow.

"No more clones Naruto," Sasuke called. "It's taking too much out of you."

"Do you guys hear that?" Tenten questioned referring to an ungodly cacophony of groans, growls, and moans.

They all looked down and saw a sea of zombies below them. There was no obvious way up but that was fine because they were only one level from the top.

"How are we going up?" Sasuke questioned. "The elevator is down there."

He pointed and Naruto looked to see the burning wreckage. Naruto looked up again and sighed.

"Throw me a rope," Naruto shouted.

Sai, being the ever brilliant one, created a rope with his signature jutsu but Naruto shook his head.

"A real one," Naruto shouted. "There should be one over there."

He pointed to where he thought he could see one and sure enough, when Sasuke looked he found a good thick rope that would likely be able to lift them all. He threw it across and Naruto caught it, putting it over one shoulder. Then he sprinted forward, jumping and grabbing a bar hanging down over the zombies. Once on that, he swung for a moment before letting go and flying to the upper floor above Sasuke and his group. He walked a safe distance from the edge before removed the rope, tying a loop in it for Neji to sit in then tied the opposite end around a large chunk of marble against the wall. He threw the rope over a hanging pipe that was bent into a "V" over the zombies so that the rope was in the middle of the room for Hinata to grab first. Before she could jump to it, the ship shook violently, more violently than it had yet. Everyone fell to the ground and grabbed something stationary to keep from falling to the zombies. Just as the shaking began to subside, the floor above Naruto began to crack and break.

"Naruto!" Hinata screamed as air ducts and other, heavier debris fell through the floor and landed on top of Naruto.

Finally the ship began to stop shaking only to start back up the moment they dropped their guard. Neji, unable to stop himself began to slide toward the edge. Sasuke caught him but lost his balance, barely able to catch a metal pole at the edge of his floor too keep them both above the zombies. At long last the ship stopped shaking and the outer half of the section of ceiling Hinata was standing on also collapsed, crushing a dozen zombies or more but leaving her at least twenty feet from the rope without enough room for a proper running start. Just then, the door behind her bent in half as zombies began to beat it down to get their lunch.

"Jump!" Tenten screamed.

Hinata, with no alternative choice, sprinted forward to jump at the rope. Before she reached the edge, however, her foot connected with a chunk of metal and she began to fall. She hurled herself forward, just barely managing to catch the loop in the rope and swinging toward Tenten and the others. Tenten caught her but began to lose her balance.

"Sai, help!" Tenten shouted.

Sai stepped forward but instead of pulling, placed his foot against Tenten's back and pushed. Then, he slammed his foot down on Sasuke's hand and both Sasuke and Neji fell to the zombies.

"NEJI!" Tenten screamed.

Hinata looked up to glare at Sai but he was already gone.

"Tenten," Hinata said getting the other girl's attention. "You need to climb up and then pull the rope up."

Just as she said this, the pipe the rope was hanging from came loose from the wall and fell past them. They swung forward and the rope began to fall, seeming to have broken free of its anchor but suddenly stopped. It rose slightly then dropped for a half second before beginning to rise again and repeated this, as if someone with only one arm was trying to pull them up. Finally they reached the same level Naruto had been on and saw why the rope had risen as unsteadily as it had. Naruto was mostly pinned under the debris that had fallen on him, his left arm broken probably along with several ribs. his right arm, however, was clutching the rope which had been cut by a piece of falling metal.

"Naruto!" Hinata cried running forward to excavate him.

"Don't," Naruto breathed, voice hoarse. "Just get...out of here."

"Not without you," Hinata stated firmly.

"Hinata," Naruto smiled. "I'm no use in this condition, even without being under a pile of rubble. Please leave me."

"I can't," Hinata stated tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I know," Naruto sighed. "But you know I don't feel the same way, Hinata. My heart belongs to Sakura. You know that."

"So?" Hinata questioned. "That doesn't mean I'm going to leave you to die."

"There isn't enough time," Naruto stated. "Tenten, please. Get her out of here."

"Of course," Tenten nodded. "Right after we dig you out. I've lost enough friends today."

The two women began to move the rubble off of Naruto and he could only sigh. Finally he was free and Hinata helped him up, letting him lean on her for support. They went into the nearest room and Hinata lay Naruto on the bed where he instantly passed out.

"How long do you think we have?" Tenten questioned.

"Not long," Hinata admitted. "But for now, we all need to rest. I'm sorry about Neji."

"It's alright," Tenten sighed. "I'm sorry Naruto rejected you."

"He didn't," Hinata stated. "I've always known my feelings were one sided."

"I don't think they're quite as one sided as both of you think," Tenten smirked. "But for right now, I need a nap."

Hinata nodded and both of them soon fell asleep.

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	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.

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The Worm

Naruto shook both kunoichi awake barely three hours after they went to sleep. They both stood and the three of them left the room and continued through the hallway avoiding debris. Finally they reached a hallway that had no debris but had blood and body parts strewn everywhere. They made their way through that stretch quickly and soon found themselves at a dead end, the door locked.

"This door leads to the last hallway," Naruto stated. "The other side should have the engine room. I'll have to go under it."

He crouched and smashed a hole in the ceiling and they all saw water about a foot below them. He dropped into it without a word and swam past the door. After about a minute, there was a surprised shout and something slammed against the door. After another moment, the door swung open and Naruto dropped a zombie's body into the hole he had made.

"That was almost bad," Naruto smirked. "Come on. The engine room is this way."

They followed him, soon coming to a heavy metal door with the word engine on it. Naruto pushed it open and they all saw a massive room running the length of the ship with red emergency lights giving everything a blood red hue. They walked into the room but as soon as they arrived, several of the machines that were attached to the ceiling to raise and lower the bulkhead doors designed to keep the ship from flooding exploded. zombies began pouring out of every nook and cranny of the room and charged at Naruto and the others. Within seconds, they were all restrained. Hinata and Tenten were both battered and bruised already but Naruto didn't have a scratch on him.

"Tenten," Naruto called out. "I think it's safe to say a last resort would be nice."

Tenten grinned and hurled both scrolls skyward. They both unrolled and began raining every weapon they had at the zombies, killing dozens and sending the rest into chaos. Naruto and Hinata broke free, Hinata grabbing an axe from a fallen zombie and the two began to slaughter anything and everything that attacked them with renewed effort, quickly freeing Tenten as well who began to help as best she could. After a few more minutes, the zombies all backed away and more began to arrive. Their attention, however, was focused on three zombies in the front of the group.

"Recognize us?" Sai questioned. "They are quite effective as full parasite zombies, wouldn't you agree?"

"And you?" Naruto questioned.

"You never even noticed my arm healed did you?" Sai questioned. "Fucking idiot. My own passenger is very happy to be able to kill you. Orochimaru will welcome him back once his task is finished."

"The Worm," Naruto stated.

"Precisely," Sai stated. "The source of this outbreak. An experiment of Orochimaru's. Effective, no?"

"No," Naruto growled. "Because it's not leaving this ship."

"What, you're going to stop all of us?" Sai questioned. "Kill this fucker Sasuke."

Sasuke sprinted forward swinging at Naruto's head but Naruto blocked his sword and formed an imperfect Rasengan in the palm of his injured arm's hand and slammed it into Sasuke's stomach. The resulting explosion obliterated Sasuke's body and burned Naruto's hand. Sai rolled his eyes as Neji sprinted forward but Hinata stepped forward, abandoning her axe and hit Neji with a series of Gentle Fist strikes ending with one to the back of his neck killing the parasite. The rest were simply to keep him from moving while she moved around behind him. Sai sighed as the rest of the infected sprinted forward but a small army of Naruto clones met them and wiped most out, obliterating the rest with Rasengans.

"Really, you people are far more trouble than you're worth," Sai sighed. "Very well, my turn."

He sprinted forward and Naruto met him with a horizontal slash. The blade met Sai's palm and smashed, however, and Sai caught Naruto by the throat before Naruto could react.

"I expected more of a challenge," Sai sighed. "But, I suppose I'll just have to settle for this."

Before he could kill Naruto, Tenten appeared with Sasuke's sword and removed Sai's head, freeing Naruto. Naruto took the sword as Sai stood, growling in annoyance.

"You shits just signed your death warrants," Sai growled as his body picked up his head, the wound healing instantly.

"I don't think so," Naruto growled created several clones who all sprinted forward with Naruto himself.

Sai destroyed one clone before the rest pinned him to the ground with their swords, along with the real Naruto. Then, Naruto created a Rasengan with one of his clones and slammed it into Sai's chest. The explosion blasted several floors below them, allowing the water an easy path up to them. Naruto then turned around just as a zombie behind Hinata stabbed her with its sword and bit her.

"NO!" Naruto shouted grabbing a piece of metal and throwing it clean through the zombie's head, killing it since it was an infection type.

Hinata fell to the floor and Naruto dropped to the floor beside her. He could see a piece of the parasite struggling to get itself under her skin and grabbed it, pulling it out and trying to ignore Hinata's screamed of pain.

"Tenten, cut it out!" Naruto ordered.

Tenten dropped to the ground behind her and drew a kunai, cutting the skin over the parasite. Finally Naruto pulled it out and threw it, hurling a kunai through it and pinning it to the wall. Then, he removed his jacket and quickly cut it into bandages, wrapping Hinata's wound. After a moment of him struggling and getting nowhere, Tenten finally shoved him aside and easily bandaged the wound.

"Thankfully the wound was shallow," Tenten sighed. "It'll hurt but there's no real threat of her dying."

Naruto sighed in relief then looked at the sword still protruding from her stomach.

"That one is a different story," Tenten sighed. "I'm fairly certain that sword hit a vital point. There's nothing we can do for that one."

Naruto sat back against a support column and stared at Hinata. His mind was completely unable to accept the fact that she was going to die. she couldn't die. He needed her. That was about when reality struck him like a ton of bricks. He felt horrible for not realizing it sooner but it was too late to change it. He cared about Hinata far more than he did anyone else, even Sakura.

_"Did you really forget about the several thousand year old demon living inside of you?"_ Kurama questioned. _"Don't you think I picked up a few things in that time?"_

Naruto blinked in surprise as Kurama forcefully took control of Naruto's body and pulled the sword out of Hinata, healing that wound before moving on to heal the one on her back. Then, he returned control to Naruto.

"N...Naruto?" Hinata groaned sitting up. "Please tell me I'm not infected."

Naruto responded to her being alive by throwing his arms around her and kissing her. She blinked in surprise as Tenten did the same but then Hinata began to kiss him back. Tenten grinned for a moment before remembering where they were.

"Um, guys, I hate to interrupt, believe me, but I think you should wait until we're off of the zombie infested sinking cruise ship to continue," Tenten spoke up and Naruto pulled away sighing.

"Right, sorry," Naruto said blushing.

"I'm not," Hinata grinned. "Come on. We should get out of here."

As they made their way to the hatch that led into the turbine room they were looking for, Naruto silently thanked Kurama for saving Hinata. He opened the hatch and instantly threw himself to the side landing beside Hinata and Tenten as water exploded out of the hatch.

"Damnit!" Naruto swore. "We're too late!"

"How far down are we?" Tenten questioned.

"We can't be that far but we will be if we let the water fill the ship so we can leave," Naruto stated. "Damn! I'll explain what I'm about to do afterward. And I'm sorry in advance."

Then, boiling red chakra began to rise from his skin forming a shroud of sorts with two long projections similar to ears on his head and three much larger ones like tails behind him. Then, he picked both women up. They both took a deep breath and Naruto leapt to the hole, barely able to withstand the current. He swam out through the turbine, destroying it on the way then swam to the surface. One of the turbine blades rose to the surface as well and he swam over to it and set the women on it before allowing the shroud to fade.

"What was that?" Tenten questioned after gasping for breath.

"That was the Nine-tailed Demon Fox's chakra," Naruto stated face and voice both betraying his hatred about the subject. "I'm his Jinchuriki. That's how I was able to heal Hinata."

"You...have the Nine-tails inside of you?" Hinata questioned.

Naruto nodded fully expecting her and Tenten both to hate him just like everyone else had.

"That would explain why everyone treated you like a monster," Hinata sighed remembering how he used to be treated. "But, you're not a monster. You're Naruto Uzumaki. You're the man I love. Just like you've always been."

Naruto blinked in surprise then smiled and Tenten smirked.

"I agree," Tenten agreed. "Well, minus the whole 'man I love' thing. Sorry but that was Neji. You're you. Same as always."

Naruto smiled and nodded then his smile faded.

"We're going to have to explain this to the others," Naruto stated.

"Fuck," Tenten sighed. "Better get swimming then. Which was Hinata?"

Hinata looked around with her Byakugan then pointed. Naruto instantly knew that she didn't see any land but slipped into the water and created a dozen clones anyway.

"Let's go then," Naruto smiled.

THE END

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